Teaching Tip: Know your students' privacy rights

September 8, 2015

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act protects the privacy of student education records. Instructors and faculty members at UAF must follow the act's requirements. Here are a few common questions:

1. I have a high school student in my class. May I share his grades with his parents?

Once a student reaches the age of 18 or enrolls in postsecondary education, parents (or spouses) are no longer allowed access to performance details or grades. The minute a student (any age) enrolls in a UAF class, parents may not receive information about their grades or class standing without the student’s written approval.

2. Can I use a public blog or discussion platform where I make comments to my students?

There are two issues here.

Of course you can require any kind of public forum for your classwork. However, FERPA does not allow any kind of public disclosure of personally identifiable student information, which means you must allow students to use aliases if they believe their UA usernames are identifiable. As long as students tell you what aliases they are using, this is an acceptable practice.

Secondly, a student’s class standing or performance is a protected student right. While it can be good for instructors to facilitate discussion, be careful with how you give feedback to students in a public setting. If you aren’t sure, give your comments privately through Blackboard or another learning management system.

Read the full Teaching Tip at iTeachU.

-- Teaching Tip by Heidi Olson, Learning Design Coordinator at UAF eLearning

FERPA and related topics are covered in eLearning's iTeach workshops. The application for the October iTeach is open now: http://elearning.uaf.edu/go/iteach